Wladimir KlitschkoUkraine

Wladimir Klitschko sealed his place in boxing folklore by passing his biggest test to date - a unification showdown with David Haye in July 2011 - with flying colours.

His first world title arrived after the routine defeat of WBO heavyweight champion Chris Byrd in 2000, a belt he went on to defend five times before suffering a shock loss.

That defeat came in 2003, when he was knocked out in the second round by South Africa's Corrie Sanders. The Ukrainian was overwhelmed and embarrassed - Klitschko was on the canvas four times in the first round alone.

A rematch with Byrd in 2006 produced Klitschko's next belts, the IBF and IBO heavyweight championships - which he unified with the WBO title in February 2008 after defeating Russia's Sultan Ibragimov. It was the first heavyweight title unification since Lennox Lewis fought Evander Holyfield in 1999.

The Ukrainian's insatiable appetite for championships continued in June 2009 with the defeat of Ruslan Chagaev. Klitschko added the Uzbek's Ring Magazine heavyweight belt to the three titles he already held.

His first defence of those four belts came against Eddie Chambers in March 2010. After dominating the fight, Klitschko brought it to a close deep into the 12th round by knocking out the American.

He cruised past Samuel Peter later in the year, and then there was nowhere left to go other than into a unification clash with David Haye. Klitschko proved his quality by cruising to a one-sided points decision, earning the WBA strap in the process. He followed it up by demolishing the overmatched Jean-Marc Mormeck in 2012, then repeating the trick against Tony Thompson and Mariusz Wach.

Career high: Being the first man in nine years to unify world heavyweight titles when he beat Ibragimov in 2008

Career low: Humiliating second round defeat against Sanders in 2003

Quote: Reflecting on how the press have described him in a negative light, Klitschko said: "The man without a chin, no stamina, dead man, broken man, whatever. On your way to the top, you always get some criticism. Criticism is a great motivation. Failure is not an option to me."